The Assassin's Blade

A Book and Its Cover

If you glanced at Throne of Glass, sitting innocently on the shelf, don't judge it by its cover! The glamorously airbrushed Celaena Sardothien may indeed be the main character, and while she does have a love of pampering herself, she is also Ardalan's greatest assassin. She is lethal, dangerous, and rather notorious. But if that cover still makes you think twice about starting this series (I have to admit, it made me worry!), maybe you'd like to start off slow and pick up The Assassin's Blade.

The Assassin's Blade

The Assassin's Bladeis a series of rapid-paced prequel novellas that introduce you to Celaena, her life as an assassin, and the difficulties she faces between her duty to the Assassins' Guild and her heart. Yes, there's a bit of romance, but there's also a swashbuckling heroine who isn't afraid to follow her beliefs and take out her enemies at the same time. These novellas cover difficult topics and how Celaena deals with them, and provides the groundwork for the rest of the series. It also gave me a much clearer image of Celaena and who she is as a person, let alone a lethal and elegant killer. The pacing of each novella was great and I rushed through them, devouring these past adventures and almost enjoying them more than the original books in the series.

Even if you haven't read this series yet (and were put off by the first book's cover), I dare you to pick these up and give them a try!

Read Them All

Throne of Glass is the first book of this series, as well as the title of the series, which could be a tad confusing if you followed my advice and started with the novellas. But the series as a whole is entertaining, gripping, and chock full of adventure, humor, and mystery. Unfortunately, it's ongoing, so you'll have to wait for it to finish, which could be fun in itself.

Throne of Glass takes place in a dystopian land devoid of magic, ruled by a slightly mad and vicious king who wants to choose his next royal assassin through a winner-takes-all tournament of assassins. And, by the way, there's also an ancient evil lurking in the castle of glass, just waiting for an opening to strike....

Series Order

Dramatic summary aside, if I've caught your interest, here's a chronological list for you to devour!